If you are up there in age (say over 45) then don't take per diem. You will lose some of of your social security.

If your young like me take it.

Instead of your money going into Social Security you can open a roth ira and put the same amount in. If you were to put $50 a week in a roth ira for 30 years what would that add up to?

50x52 (1 year) = 2,600
2,600x30 years = $78,000 and we haven't even calculated intrest yet.

A good roth ira will earn more than 8% intrest.

Lets say you average 10%

You put $50/wk into a roth at 10%

Over 30 years you would invest $78,000
After 30 years you have accrued $415,854.06 in interest!
Your total balance after 30 years would be $493,854.04

At that time if you are still earning 10% then you could
just about live off the interest which is about $50,000 a year.

Here is the kicker... you can do this WITHOUT PER DIEM if you wanted, but just think how much money your losing paying into social security (you will never see it - or at least people in my age group wont).

I used the savings calculator from DaveRamsey.com

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You should also be taking advantage of your 401k to (if you plan to stay with your company - otherwise just throw that in your roth so you don't have to fool with it). Also with a roth you can take out money you put in without paying a penalty to the IRS - some banks will charge you a fee if you take it out though so be carefull. Borrowing from a roth is much easier than borrowing from a 401k (if you ever need to).

**I'm not a financial advisor - this is just based off some research - you should talk with a financial counselor or tax advisor before making any major investment decisions like this**

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Kevin